The Most Awesome Founder Podcast

🎙️ Want to know how to optimize your hypothesis testing and find out how the experts do it? Tune in to today's engaging podcast, where Alex Osterwalder, the creator of the Business Model Canvas and co-founder of Strategyzer, is interviewed. Ranked no. 4 of the top 50 management thinkers worldwide and visiting professor at IMD, Alex is known for simplifying the strategy development process and turn...

Do you know about all the different ways to screw up your startup's financials?     Managing investments for your startup is bound to come with difficulties and requires a lot of learning by doing. However, you can learn how to avoid these mistakes beforehand!      Tune in to today's episode and listen to Sven, Gerrit and Dries discuss:  - Both sides of the financing table   - What type of red fla...

Learn from legal expert Dr. Sven Greulich how to avoid typical founder pitfalls!       In episode 63, we are excited to introduce Dr. Sven Greulich to you, who elaborates on the main pitfalls the Orrick Legal Ninja Series identified . To give you a little insight, here are the first two problems discussed:   Not thinking about founder team dynamics and founder departures   Creating an unreflect eq...

Today our guest Jörg Hellwig, an active angel investor, is here to share his insights with you! Having had experience as a chief digital officer, co-founder, and investor, he has valuable insights that you can benefit from!     The different perspectives Jörg encountered make this podcast so valuable for aspiring entrepreneurs. Learn about:   -         the challenges and benefits of change in corp...

Do you ever wonder what it's like for your startup to fail?     Then you're just right in today's episode #61! In this episode, we're here to listen and learn about Kilian Karrasch's startup failure with Connme.       Tune in to Kilian's reflection on what it was like to experience your own startup failure. Within this episode, Kilian shares the deep and valuable learnings he was able to extract....

Kick off the year right with startup guidance from the successful WHU founder Jan Reichelt. His successful entrepreneurial journey began with Mendeley and has led him to reach two consecutive acquisitions. After his own founding, he began investing as an angel and has now moved towards venture capital. Listen and learn more about Jan's journey, what it's like to be an entrepreneur in diverse count...

The last episode of 2022 and we are very excited to share our first recording in front of a live audience. Dries interviews Niklas Brackmann, co-founder of the amateur football app Prematch. Niklas talks about how hooks help create social platforms, how implementing a shared culture in a young venture looks and about WHU supports activities for entrepreneurs.   We hope you enjoy the episode!   Cha...

Episode 58 features the seventh edition of the Inspiration Session with Gerrit McGowan & Dries Faems in which they share what makes them think, learn, and laugh.     This week they touch on some of these thought-provoking topics:       How to measure personality with your digital footprint   Is fake it till you make it the right strategy to use as an entrepreneur?   How can the chance of burnout b...

Welcome back to episode 57 with serial entrepreneur Daniel Hanemann! The WHU Alumnus Daniel is a successful entrepreneur, as seen in his current role as founder/CEO of Wundertax. You'll, however, also find him as an investor, comedian, and polyglot. Listen and learn more about Daniel's founder journey, what it's like to be an international entrepreneur founding in diverse countries, how to leave s...

Episode 56 and we are excited to welcome Axel Deniz to the show. Axel has extensive experience building digital products and has led numerous digital innovation projects with large multinationals. Currently, he is Director for Corporate Development & Innovation at PwC, leading open innovation strategy & corporate venturing. Tune in when Axel talks about the resilience of business ecosystems, the r...

Episode 55 presents Annika von Mutius, a driven and motivated entrepreneur with an affinity towards technology. We were delighted to hear about her journey, building the first fully automated headhunter, Empion. Annika and her co-founder Larissa recently raised €2.4 Mil pre-seed funding with WHU alumnus Michael Stephan as a board member and angel investor. Annika and her co-founder Larissa quickly...

In Episode 54 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we returned with the 6th inspiration session with Gerrit McGowan and Dries Faems. Sticking to the format of sharing something they learned, made them think, and made them laugh, Gerrit and Dries discuss the following captivating topics:   -           MBA Students and their effect on work in startups -           In what sense the "cigar butting inv...

In Episode 53 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we are happy to interview Moritz Weisbrodt, a serial entrepreneur with experience in various industries like food, health, and logistics. His latest company Alaiko, a fulfillment-as-a-service company, just announced a 30 million series A funding round this year. Talking as a generalist, Moritz knows the importance of corporate culture in different...

Episode 52 features the fifth edition of the Awesome Founder Inspiration Session with Gerrit McGowan & Dries Faems in which they share what makes them think, learn, and laugh.  This week they touch on some of these thought-provoking topics: - Post-money valuations of unicorns - Elon Musk's opinions about geopolitical problems – is there an economic calculation behind it? - What are two of the most...

In episode 51 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we introduce Sebastian Pollok, WHU alum, Co-Founder of Amorelie. He is currently Founding Partner at Visionaries Club, a Berlin-based VC. In this episode, Sebastian shares his journey with us, which was filled with many ups and downs. Sebastian has been through everything from declining a job offer at BCG to interning at Google in the USA to final...

In episode 50 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we are happy to welcome Andy Binns to the show. Andy co-founded the innovation consultancy change logic and has more than 20 years of extensive experience overcoming innovation barriers in big corporates. Apart from his merits as a practitioner, he also published relevant academic work regarding disruptive innovation and CEO ambidexterity. Andy sh...

In Episode 49 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we are happy to introduce our sixth talent out of this year's accelerator cohort. After years in the corporate scenery, Elena Tsemirava recently decided to take the matter into her own hands and build her own start-up Listerly, to fulfill her entrepreneurial potential. Listerly wants to leverage artificial intelligence to automate listing products...

In episode 48 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we introduce Ron Adner, Professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is one of world's leading thinkers and an award-winning researcher. he is also an advisor to companies around the world and the founder of the Strategy Insight Group. In this episode, Ron shares his research and experience with us...

In Episode 47 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, Dries talks to Sufyan Osamah, who just finished the latest WHU accelerator program. With his co-founder Nikolaus Ridder, he developed HonestDog, a platform to connect reputable breeders and shelters with people who want to buy their dogs more responsibly. Man's best friend is far from a mere platitude when Sufyan speaks about how the presence of d...

Episode 46 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast and we are thrilled to introduce Raphael Derstappen, co-founder of the live-learning platform Kursinsel. Today's parents can keep their children busy with a bunch of electronic devices, games, or apps. However, Kursinsel wants to offer more than temporary entertainment for kids. The platform assists parents in letting their kids explore their passions...

In episode 45 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we are back with the fourth episode of the Awesome Founder Inspiration Sessions with Gerrit McGowan and Dries Faems. Continuing the format from the previous episode, they discuss a few thought-provoking topics: - How does virtual work affect creativity? - Do flexible work opportunities have inherent biases? - Can the introduction of a middle manag...

In episode 44 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we interview Ege Gündüz, another young and driven entrepreneur from our WHU accelerator. Ege is co-founder of liftOS (formerly 10lift), a startup that wants to foster collaborative and more engaging HR processes. Join to hear how Dries and Ege discuss work experiences during Covid-19, issues with B2B business models, and the challenges driving dig...

In episode 43 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we introduce Julian Birkinshaw, a leading researcher in the field of entrepreneurship and a Professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the London Business School. In this episode, Julian will discuss his research on how companies need to balance alignment and adaptability to keep up with a rapidly changing world. He will also walk us through hi...

In episode 42 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we interview another exciting entrepreneurial talent from the WHU accelerator. Chenchen Cao is co-founder of Power Mind Club, a startup that wants to improve couple relationships through counseling offers and a caring community. Chenchen and Dries discuss mental health as a vital part of Power Mind Club and the day-to-day entrepreneurial business....

In episode 41 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast, we introduce Marcus Stahl, WHU alum and Co–Founder of Tonies. Marcus had a long stint in the telecommunication and automotive industry before becoming a founder and co-founding Tonies. In this episode, Marcus goes through his journey from taking 3 years to perfect the Tonies box to eventually taking the company public via SPAC. He emphasizes how b...